Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - 10 دقائق و 38 ثانية في هذا العالم الغريب

This book was so close to a 4/5 star book. But it fell apart at the end.

I really enjoyed the idea of reliving someone's life via stories told every minute of the 10 minutes during which their brain is shutting down due to death. The flashbacks were told so well, and you really got to understand the character and the most important people in her life.

Where it fell apart was after the 10 minutes one jumped to her friends and a "quest".

Edited to add:

I was talking with my husband about the ending, and he had a good insight into why the author chose to end it the way they way they did. The story was about being seen as unimportant in society and how even in death, it was the same. This made me understand why the author chose to end this way rather than end the moment her brain shut down completely.

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terppsi's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I really loved the first part, how the memories were evoked from smells and tastes.
Second part could have been shorter, that's the only reason I don't give it a 5.
Very curious about her other work

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yasminasbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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vish2694's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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katrinarose's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Shafak does such an a wonderful job of setting the scene in Istanbul and the other various settings in Turkey. Her way of bringing a character to life in just a chapter is amazing, and I felt so much for Leila that I became sadder each chapter knowing that she had died. The character study and friendship development is definitely the most important and impactful part of this book, not the plot. It’s a beautiful and tragic story.

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ellinlolis's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

Wow this book was a lot darker and heavier than I was expecting. A great read, but you definitely need to be in the right headspace for this one.

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e11en's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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daniellekat's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I loved part one (Mind) and thought this was on its way to 5 stars, but parts 2 (Body) and 3 (Soul) lost me. Shafak is a masterful writer and her descriptive style perfectly suits the novel's time and setting. My main criticism with this is the same for my last Shafak read (The Island of Missing Trees) - too much information is given to the reader. Especially in Part 2, there were too many perspectives and explicit details that I thought would have been more powerful left untold. I loved the found family aspect of this book and the way their grief manifested among them. I wish we were given more time with each of the friends but overall this was another well balanced blend of history and fiction. I highly recommend checking the content warnings on this one.

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